The Greek adjective asemos (ἄσημος) means "without mark, without distinction, insignificant, obscure, unremarkable" — from the alpha-privative a- and sema (mark, sign). In secular usage it described those of low status or unknown origin. The word appears only once in the New Testament.
In Acts 21:39, Paul identifies himself to the Roman commander: "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city (ouk asemou poleos)." By using this negative — "not insignificant" — Paul cleverly appeals to Tarsus's status as a prestigious city of learning. Yet the profound irony is that God chose the seemingly insignificant to shame the great (1 Corinthians 1:27–28). Paul himself, who boasted of Tarsus's status here, would later count all such credentials as rubbish for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8). The church of Jesus is filled with those the world considered asemos — marked by God as precious.